Praxis Circle Contributor Nadine Strossen is a leading expert on constitutional law, civil liberties, and international human rights. She is the John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School and former president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1991 – 2008. Praxis Circle interviewed Nadine because of her extensive activist background, liberal and libertarian worldview, and internationally recognized legal expertise in human rights and free expression, particularly as governed by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
Strossen was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1950 to two activist parents. Her father, born in Germany, spoke out against Nazism and was placed in a concentration camp until being liberated by American troops. Her mother was a member of the National Organization for Women and advocated for women’s rights. In 1968, Strossen enrolled in Radcliffe College (now Harvard College) and received a B.A. in history and literature. She then attended Harvard Law School and obtained her J.D. in 1975. While there, she became an editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Strossen was a practicing attorney from 1976 – 1984. She left practicing law to teach as an associate professor at New York University School of Law from 1984 – 1988 where she specialized in constitutional law, federal courts, and human rights. In 1983, Strossen joined the national board of directors for the ACLU. She then joined its national executive committee in 1985. From 1986-1991, she served as the general counsel. Finally, in 1991, Strossen became the first female president of the organization and served in that position until 2008. Three ideologically diverse Supreme Court Justices participated in her farewell luncheon from the ACLU: Ruth Bater Ginsberg, Antonin Scalia, and David Souter.
Today, Strossen is a frequent speaker and media commentator on constitutional law and civil liberty issues. She serves on the advisory boards of the ACLU, Academic Freedom Alliance, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), Heterodox Academy, National Coalition Against Censorship, and the University of Austin. She has testified before Congress on numerous occasions and has made thousands of public presentations around the world. She has appeared on virtually every national news program, and hundreds of publications have appeared in many scholarly and general interest publications.
She is the author of Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex and the Fight for Women’s Rights (1995); HATE: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship (2018); Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know (2023); and co-author of Speaking of Race, Speaking of Sex: Hate Speech, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties (1996). She is also Host and Project Consultant for Free To Speak, a 3-hour documentary film series on free speech.
The National Law Journal has named Strossen one of America’s “100 Most Influential Lawyers,” and several other publications have named her one of the country’s most influential women. Her many honorary degrees and awards include the American Bar Association’s prestigious Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award (2017). In 2023, the National Coalition Against Censorship (an alliance of more than 50 national non-profit organizations) selected Strossen for its Judy Blume Lifetime Achievement Award for Free Speech.
Strossen is married to her husband, Eli Noam, an American economist and Professor Emeritus at Columbia Business School.
